>> hello and welcome to the "journal." our headlines -- local elections and close of oh kosovo arein marred. u.s. secretary of state john kerry in egypt days before mohamed morsi's trial. yern breaks yet another soccer record.

polls have closed in local elections in kosovo. serb participation in kosovo's political life is a key element of a european-union-brokered deal. today's voting was marred by reports of masked men strain -- storming the main polling center , throwing tear gas and smashing ballot boxes. >> they were only local elections. for kosovo's leaders, they were a barometer of relations between ethnic albanians and serbs. >> knees on the first free elections for all of kosovo -- these are the first free elections for all of kosovo, and that makes them historic for all of our young nation. >> it was the first democratic vote since kosovo broke away from serbia.

>> it is a test of democracy and our country, proof that everyone has a voice -- democracy in our hastry, proof that everyone a voice. >> one polling station closed after masked men stormed it, smashing ballot boxes. ethnic serb hard-liners called for a boycott. there were widespread reports of voter intimidation. many here still feel strong ties to serbia. there was fear that taking part in the election could amount to recognizing kosovo's statehood. others were glad for the chance to be part of the political process. >> i have no intention of leaving. throw me out. i decided to vote in the hope of a better future here. >> for the first time, the serbian government in belgrade urged ethnic serbs in kosovo to get out and vote. both countries are eager to show the eu they are ready to copper

a -- to cooperate. >> u.s. secretary of state john kerry paid what was shaping up to be a strange visit to cairo on sunday after the u.s. cut millions of dollars of aid to egypt following the military ouster of the country's first am incredibly elected president. the state department had refused to confirm is that it until his plane landed -- to confirm his visit until his plane landed. >> it was his first visit to cairo since former president mohamed morsi was ousted in a military coup. the secretary of state under their-- underscored commitment to working with adly mansour's interim government. >> we support you in this tremendous transformation that you are undergoing. we know it is difficult. we want to help. we are prepared to do so. >> kerry played down the fact that washington had suspended

part of its foreign assistance to cairo. visit came one day before morsi goes on trial on charges of inciting murder when last year's supporters of his muslim brotherhood clashed with opponents. members of the muslim brotherhood are now behind bars. indirectly.ommented fahmy and i agreed on the need to ensure that injections are afforded due process -- that is egyptian's are afforded due process. >> he said they would be strongest when egypt is represented by an inclusive, democratically elected government based on the rule of law. >> for more on kerry's visited cairo, let's pull in our cairo correspondent. ties between washington and

egypt interim government are pt's interimand egy government are delicate. how were kerry's words received? >> it is a rocky relationship. both sides were trying to mend the fences. fahmy said there is a turbulent relationship, but the visit of kerry and the words of kerry were a positive sign. kerry said it insured the friendship of the united states -- it ensured the friendship of the united states. behind the scenes, there surely were discussions about the concerns about the process toward democracy and a more inclusive process here the muslim brotherhood is in -- is completely excluded -- in more inclusive process. isththe muslim brotherhood

completely excluded. >> are we likely to see an increase in unrest? brotherhood are mobilizing. it is important to see what happens if mr. morsi appears in court. it will be the first time we will see the ousted president, who has been hidden from the public for four months. everyone is looking to see what morsi is going to do, how he is going to look, and also the circumstances of demonstrations. >> thanks very much. tunisia's president has extended a state of emergency until the middle of next year as political wrangling over a new government continues. a weekend deadline for the governing islamists and the opposition to choose a new prime minister has been pushed back to monday.

the security situation in .unisia has deteriorated si last week, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a rich -- in the resort town. there have been recurring gunbattles with police. found authorities have that two french journalist shot that twoin mali -- french journalists were shot to death in mali. many are wondering how gunmen carried out the attack so close to a town where both french troops and u.n. soldiers are stationed. >> last year, kite all bank -- last year, kidal was the center of an uprising. pockets of insurgency remain. two traveled to the northeastern town to interview a local official from a to our egg

-- from a tuareg separatists group. said he saw theld journalists being bundled into a four-wheel drive. it is the last time they were seen alive. their bodies were found riddled with bullets alongside the abandoned vehicle. after an emergency meeting called by the president in paris, france's foreign minister blamed terrorists. a crime against two people who were assassinated in cold blood under inhuman conditions. but it is also a crime against the basic freedom to inform and to be informed. rfi condemned the the killings but to clear the network will not be intimidated -- but declared the network will

not be intimidated. >> should we stop from writing information -- stop providing information? the answer is no. >> they were veteran africa correspondence. they were in kidal earlier this year to cover the first round of the presidential election. >> on to sports. make that seven in a row for sebastian vettel. he has won the grand prix in abu dhabi for his seventh straight victory in a row, a record last wrapped up by fellow german michael schumacher in 2004. vettel immediately overtook his teammate, webber. nico rosberg placed third. in bundesliga soccer, augsburg has defeated mainz 2-1 for their first win in six games.

the visitors slumped to their seventh loss in the last nine league matches. in sunday's late game, garcia scored the game-winner in the 86th minute to lead werder bremen to a 3-2 victory over hannover. bremen ended a four-game winless streak. h have gone 36 games without defeat, equaling a record set by hamburg 30 years ago. plenty ons coach had his mind as his squad struggled against hoffenheim. the teenage defender netted his first bundesliga goal. just five minutes later, there

was a well-deserved equalizer for the visitors off of a deflected free kick. hoffenheim kept up the pressure on byron. -- bayern. >> we can certainly be proud of how we played. we performed well at home. of ayern to get vantage mistake by hoffenheim's captain of ayern took advantage mistake by hoffenheim's captain and came away with the victory. >> we want to no longer share the record. so many games without a loss is really special. >> 36 consecutive matches unbeaten. that does not seem to be enough for the coach. >> there is more good news for bayern after leverkusen suffered

an upset defeat. with less than 10 minutes to go, the home side scored. the goal allowed them to claim their first home win of the season. scored their first away win of the season. >> he scored the game-winner with some help from hamburg. in the 23rd minute, kruse intercepted a poorly placed pass and opened scoring. that was not the end of their bad luck. he lost the ball to a gladbach midfielder. he passed to kruse, who netted his 7th goal of the season. hamburg did not give up.

they had twice as many shots on goal as their opponents but failed to capitalize. in the end, they came away empty-handed. >> let's take a look at this weekend's results. you see the victories by augsburg and bremen. in other games, hertha berlin was surprised by schalke. ther a goalless first half, scoring was open in the 57th minute. the visitors added 2 more for a 3-0 win. nuremberg are the only bundesliga team without a victory. in saturday postulate match, i'm frankfurt fell. victory putd-fought them back in first place, but dortmund are just a point behind .

in the bottom half, augsburg jumped to 13th place. friberg moved up a notch -- freiburg moved up a notch. sky watchers in parts of the united states, southern europe, and africa had the chance to witness a stunning spectacle today. the rare hybrid solar eclipse was first visible over the atlantic, east florida. later, partial phases were visible from solar -- southern europe. a total eclipse could be seen from africa. the last quinces could be seen from somalia just a little while ago. could best glimpses seen from somalia just a little while ago. at its peak, the sun was blocked out for a full minute. some amazing pictures. that is all for this edition of the "journal." for an in-depth look at all of our top stories, go to dw.de. thanks for watching.

>> there was anger in germany this week amid allegations of widespread u.s. spying on the german government. media reports claimed the u.s. embassy in berlin claimed -- contained an nsa listening post. "the wall street journal" said the nsa had eavesdropped on angela merkel's cell phone for years. the paper said president obama was informed of the procedure this summer and it had been stopped. german lawmakers were outraged. >> eavesdropping on the mobile phone conversations of heads of government takes things to a new level. it is unacceptable.

but this cannot distract us from the fact that a massive amount of spying on normal german citizens and businesses was underway at the same time. >> many called for talks on a free-trade deal between the u.s. and the eu to be suspended. in washington, barack obama promised to review u.s. intelligence efforts. >> what we've seen over the last several years is their capacities continue to develop and expand, and that's why i am initiating a review to make sure that what they are able to do doesn't do sincerely mean what they should be doing -- doesn't necessarily mean what they should be doing. times" saysyork obama should move to stop surveillance on all heads of state. .he allegations kept on coming media reports said the nsa had also tapped into google and yahoo! data centers, gaining

access to information on hundreds of millions of users. the nsa denied those claims, but google and yahoo! were not satisfied and urged congress to take action. sweptane-strength winds across northern europe on monday, leaving a trail of destruction. at least 14 people were killed, seven in germany alone. it was the continent's worst storm in years. winds of up to 170 kilometers down trees and brought rail traffic to a standstill. in britain, hundreds of thousands were left without power. the storm also triggered a massive swell along the portuguese coast. brazilian -- this brazilian surfer rode what is thought to be the biggest wave ever, over 30 meters high. on monday, a car raced through a crowd of tourists in

tian an men square, crashing and bursting into flames -- in tiananmen square, crashing and bursting into flames. all those in the car were killed. it was initially unclear how the car had gotten through the cordon. state television later said it was a terrorist attack carried out by members of china's muslim minority. >> make come every day to check on us, check our papers -- they, come every day to check on us, check our papers. >> groups have been fighting for more autonomy from beijing for decades. there have been increased number of clashes -- an increased number of clashes. >> there was jubilation in the west bank later on tuesday after israel released 26 palestinians from prison.

the men had been in jail for decades, most convicted of murdering israelis. >> i'm so happy. the whole families here -- family is here. hopefully soon all prisoners will be freed. >> their release was part of a deal with palestinian president mahmoud abbas and at pushing forward -- aimed at pushing forward peace talks. abbas was on hand for the celebration. the israeli settlement construction is the most contentious issue. there are rumors -- >> there are rumors that we agreed to further settlements in exchange for the release is. that is totally untrue -- the releases. that is totally untrue. >> just hours later, israel announced a plan to build 1500 more settlement homes, once again angering the palestinians. the move was deeply popular -- unpopular.

>> also on tuesday, turkey opened a railway tunnel between the europe in and asian parts of istanbul. it is the realization of a plan first envisioned by ottoman rulers. >> the project does not just joined continents, it completes a 150 year dream -- a 150-year dream. >> the opening was the high point of celebrations marking the 90th anniversary of the republic of turkey. turkish leaders and international guests cried it -- crowded in. the tunnel runs partly underwater. it will transport up to 1.5 million people per day. is to relieveaim congestion in istanbul. the tunnel is now operating for local trains. by 2015, it will open for long- distance trains. the hope is it could be part of a new rail link between europe

and the far east. a efforts to agree on coalition government between germany's two biggest parties made progress this week. both sides agreed to renew germany's first -- push for an eu-like participation tax. >> we are agreed that both sides want to seek to get the tax introduced at the european level. we fear to dissemble -- it is a symbol of social justice. >> both sides also agreed to take steps to silence the eurosceptics by seeking to return more responsibility from brussels to the eu member states. the parties have yet to agree on how to deal with troubled banks. scenese scenes -- sweet are made of this.

the catwalk creations are made of the world's favorite sweet treat. a number of celebrities joined in the fun. wimbledon tennis champ marion bartoli model this fetching dress in dark chocolate. -- modeled this fetching dress in dark chocolate. a real fashion feast. >> three giant mirrors were installed to direct the sun rays into the valley. they eliminate the town square, an area the size of three tennis courts. >> fantastic. i never thought it would be this good. >> the idea for the mirror states back 100 years but was never implemented. sponsors were found to cover the cost -- some 600,000 euros. locals hope tourists will now no longer avoid the town in the dark winter months. syria can no longer produce

chemical weapons. that was the word from international inspectors on thursday, who have spent the last month visiting more than 20 chemical weapons sites across the country. >> the syrian government has completed what we call the functional description of its -- destruction of its entire chemical weapons making apparatus. >> the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons said it had also sealed the country's entire stock of chemical arms and agents. inspectors say syrian has around 1000 metric tons of chemical has around 1000 metric tons of chemical weapons. it now has until next year to destroy those stockpiles. >> conservatives in the german state of bavaria gained support from brussels for a nationwide toll on the freeway. they want to impose a toll on

all drivers using the freeway, but to give german a corresponding's discount on their road tax. that -- a corresponding discount on their road tax. that effectively means only tourists would be paying the toll. angela merkel opposes the toll. >> mexico and the united states discovered a sophisticated drug smuggling tunnel running under the border between the two countries. the tunnel was fitted with its own electronic rail system, hydraulic doors, and ventilation. officials say it was newly built and had hardly been used. authorities working on both sides of the border confiscated 8.5 tons of marijuana and around 150 kilos of cocaine. three people were arrested. they face minimum sentences of 10 years if convicted.

monsters, pools, and ghosts -- ghouls,an and invaded.ere -- things got very spooky in new york at the annual halloween parade. the celebration of all things ghoulish has a long tradition in the u.s. the white house was transformed into a haunted house as president obama and first lady michelle handed out sweet gifts to children. thet the end of the week, german government announced it was willing to talk directly to the former u.s. intelligence operative edward snowden about the nsa's spying activities. >> if the message is that mr. snowden wants to provide us with information and tell us something, then we will gladly

accept that. because any clarification, information, and fax we can obtain is a good thing -- and facts we can obtain is a good thing. >> the announcement came after a politician returned from russia with a letter from snowden, offering to give sworn testimony on u.s. spying activities directed at german citizens and leaders. he held a surprise three-hour meeting with snowden in russia on thursday night. snowden reportedly offered to give testimony in germany, but his lawyer said a meeting could only take race and russia -- take place in russia for legal reasons. snowden would have a lot to say to the german people. >> also on friday, germany became the first european country to allow a third gender option for newborn babies. under the new law, babies born with characteristics of both sexes will no longer have to be registered as male or female. many intersex people have

welcomed the move, saying it means parents will no longer be pressured into a quick decision on surgery to assign a gender to that child. and